what we didn't know until yesterday was that that proposal then went to the pentagon and the secretary of defense and top military man, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general martin dempsey also agreed with that. the proposal went to the white house. but you know what? the president, there is only one vote that counts. that is the commander-in-chief. he said no. he is not going to do it. really quite stunning. he overruled his entire national security team. alisyn: it sounds like he decided to do that because he thought that the information they had couldn't be trusted in terms of arming the rebels with weapons. who were the rebels. could they be trusted with these weapons. but it is fascinating to see how decisions are made indecide the white house, right? it sounds like the president keeps his own counsel. >> he certainly listened to all of them and heard them out and we don't know what other people inside the white house's national security advisor, tom donilon said. i don't know if it was a matter of information. it is just a question of balancing. on the one hand, yes